CLOO' app rents your restroom to semi-strangers

The upcoming CLOO' iOS app searches your social networks for a nearby privately-owned bathroom. It's a big-city solution for the challenge of finding a clean restroom, and could also be a way to meet new people.

This could be a great way to meet new people.
Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

When you gotta go, you gotta go. That simple truth of life has inspired an unusual app project. CLOO' is like a social network for your personal lavatory.

It helps you ferret out a local loo through your network of friends on Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter. You then send a toilet request and the person decides whether or not to rent out her bathroom to you for a small fee.

I know this sounds crazy. People you've never met could come in to borrow your bathroom. I checked in with co-founders Hillary Young and Deanna McDonald. They assured me that this app is no joke.

"Right now we're finishing our prototype. We're a little stuck because of funding. We realize this is a very new idea and intimate subject matter," writes Young in an e-mail to CNET.

CLOO' isn't for rural America where there are trees and bushes a-plenty. It's for big cities where you're trapped in a concrete jungle. You know there are bathrooms everywhere, you just can't get to them because they're in private hands.

"On countless occasions we were out on the weekend or just commuting to and from work and suddenly it's a sprint to the nearest Starbucks or restaurant only to discover there are five desperate people like yourself ahead of you or that there is no bathroom at all," writes Young, explaining the inspiration for CLOO'.

CLOO', which stands for community+loo (and an apostrophe mark "symbolizing the GPS marker in our logo"), will also include a rating system so you will know if the bathroom of your desire is as fresh as morning dew or if it's inside the bachelor pad from hell.

The team is prepping the app for iOS, but hasn't ruled out a run at Android, as well. "We'd like to have it out and circulating by January in the New York area. We've been getting massive amounts of email from fans and supporters excited about CLOO'. We just need to get it to them," writes Young.

CLOO' has already inspired some wide-ranging opinions varying from, "No way. Not in my house." to "Awesome concept. I'd use it right now." Share your thoughts in the comments. When this app comes out, will you get a CLOO'?

About the author

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET's Crave blog. When not wallowing in weird gadgets and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
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